Queen of the Roses
by Minagi Ito
Summary: In even peaceful times, there is always crimes. When a knight cross path with the nation's greatest thief, what will happen between them? Shoujo-ai/yuri, if this make your stomach turn, don't read. You are warned. New title!
1. Prologue

**Maria-sama ga Miteru**

_Queen of the Roses_

Lillian, a small but prosperous nation, though far from the capital there was still famines. Knowing this, the Queen of Lillian sent out her Royal Knights to make sure those who rule over the provinces that make up the nation itself know of their people's situation and help out as much as they could. Her Royal Knights trained on the Yamayuri Mountain, though name could be deceiving as there are no lilies but hardships. The Royal Knights formed the House of Roses under the order of the Queen, though some believed that the knights were the true source of power and the Queen is nothing but a mere puppet that the knights used on the people.

To the people in the capital, the Knights represent laws and also enforcer of those laws. They are all popular amongst the people, as they kept Lillian in peace and harmony since the start of the nation centuries ago. There's one odd thing about the knights, they are all women and they each wore their armors with a rose crest crafted onto it as a form of recognition by the color of the crested rose on their breastplate. They are Red, Yellow, and White; among them, the Red Rose ruled over the other two houses with great leadership skills as well as war tactics.

The Red and Yellow Roses set out on their journey to aid the nation's people, while the White Roses family stayed behind as the Queen's guards. Each disguised as traveling commoners, they set out to bring justice to the people per the Queen's order. Leaving the capital behind, the four knights traveled east to the desert.

What lies for them beyond the grassland? It is something no one could foresaw, and maybe if Lady Luck was with them. Just maybe…

_A/N: I ended the other one because my interest in it died, which I usually ended the story when that started to happen or it will never be finish(ed). I apologize if it looked rush, but it isn't rushed (actually took me a week to wrapped that chapter up). As for the blowing Sachiko away but Yumi didn't know she did it, it's because her pregnancy give her a bout of terrible mood-swing/tantrum-ish._

_Side notes: 1. I'm lazy to come up with a name for the Kingdom, hence I leave it at Lillian. 2. Yamayuri mean Lily Mountain/Mountain Lily, but I like it stick together, so now its mountain lily mountain. 3. The rose crest is engraved on their breastplate, right on their heart (those heavy mail plates). 4. I'm hoping to get this going and finished before my broken mind lost its interest._

_**Banzai!**_


	2. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1**

_It has been quite the amount of years since I left the Capital _(also known as: the Imperial Capital),_ I wonder how everyone is doing. Even in peaceful times, wars are still being waged between the people and their oppressive rulers. Tch! These lackies think that they're too far from the Capital, so it's okay for them to treat the people however they want. Disgusting scoundrels… _Satou Sei mused as she rested her head on a table waiting for the foods she ordered to arrive.

The sound of hooves stomping the ground and people screaming to get out of the way grew louder and louder, Sei let out a groan as she turned her head to face the other way. The horses neighed loudly as they came to a screeching stop, in front of the small inn and men leaped off their rides entering the place like they owned it. Clearing tables for themselves by tossing other customers out, ordering the owner to bring out his finest wine and best meat to serve them.

When her foods came, she ate them hungrily ignoring the group of men who annoyingly trying to get the owner's daughter to serve them drinks. Keen on her senses, Sei noticed something twinkled from the corner of her eyes. The next thing anyone knew was people screaming as one of the men slumped over the table with half an arrow sticking out of his back. Shrugging her shoulders, Sei remained oblivious to the chaos around her as she shoved more foods into her mouth (a few days without eating will do that to you).

"Ahhh… now that's good foods," Sei commented rubbing her stomach lightly after finishing her foods. Suddenly, there were more swords pointing at her than she'd ever seen in her life, not that it bothered her much. "You must be an accomplice to not fright at what happened here," a man with an overgrown beard said, inching the tip of his sword closer to her neck.

Sei quirked a brow at the man, her lips turned into an upturn smirk. "Ah, but my good man, what evidence do you have of my accomplice ness? For all that you know I am simply just a passerby with an empty stomach searching for a good meal." Sei said in a playful tone. "Not to mention, the Thief of Thieves had issued the city a notice that _he_ would come to steal this city's wealth. I'm surprise that you guys haven't take heed from that notice," Sei continued opening one eye and stared at the man. "Now if you don't mind, I need to get a place to sleep now that I'm full. Give the Count my regards," Sei said waving at them as she's already down the street. No one even noticed how she managed the slip away from all the pointy objects pointing at her.

* * *

"Great, now someone out there is trying to claim to be me," a shadowy figure murmured sitting on the roof of a building a bit away from the Count's mansion. "Well, those money isn't going to get stolen on its own," the shadow figure said before getting up and leaped for the roof above the gates that led to the mansion, guarded by two guards. Since the notice, the Count had increased security around his mansion, because all of the people's money was locked away in a certain room in his lavish home.

Stealthy and lithe, the cloaked figure emerged from behind a pillar without being noticed by the guards. Pulling the hood down, revealing a lovely face of a young girl with pigtails brown hair, she walked the corridor like she owned the place. She took two fresh leaves that she got earlier when she was outside, using it she played a soothing melody and the guards fell asleep before she even walked by them.

She kept walking until what seemed like the end of the hallway, studying the wall for a moment, the girl reached up and pushed a gray brick causing the wall to slide open. Inside was a set and stairs leading down into hidden valuables, and she's here to claim them. Once she made it there, all the gold monies waiting to be taken, and taken them she did with a small pouch that seemed to never be filled up no matter how much gold she had put in it.

By the time the Count himself was alarm enough to realize that all of his monies had been stolen along with his invaluable jade that he constantly has on him. Panic and chaos ensue in the Count's mansion, but the thief was already long gone by then. Though someone else watched the chaos with a great deal of amusement before leaping off the roof of the Count's home and made her way back to her room before anyone saw her out here.

* * *

Before the break of dawn, the marketplace was crowded with people their merchandise ready to make enough money to feed that family before the Count's guards come along to extort money from them. And moving around is a young girl in hunting clothes, her bow and quiver hung on her shoulder, the belts that hung a bit loosely on her hips carried a skinning knife and a cutting knife, one more fragile than the other. It was easy to tell that she's a hunter; her clothes consist of rawhides and leathers.

She went straight to the rice seller, and his eyes lit up at the sight of her as this would be his second times seeing her here over the span of two weeks since she came to this town. The last time he saw her, she had bought all of his rice and had it hauled to the lower part of the town to give it out to the poor people living there. He wished that she was his own daughter, though he wouldn't want misfortune to befall her, his own daughter was taken by the Count a few years ago.

"Agusto-san, the usual please," the girl said with her usual bright smile. "I see that you made some money," he chuckled at her. "Yes, a few bear's gallbladder got me a bag of gold." "You sure are a skilled hunter, Yumi-chan." Agusto nodded knowing full well the price of a bear's gallbladder (the bile can be use for many things in medicine). "My father taught me all I know," Yumi said with a shy smile on her lips as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Eep!" Yumi let out a yelp when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. "Ah, I can't believe how cute you sound," Sei said. "I know who you are, o' _Thief of Thieves_," she whispered into Yumi's ears causing the girl's eyes to nearly bug out. "Not to worry though, I only want to accompany you on your trip to the lower part of the town." Sei said as she let go of Yumi, and the girl whirled around to look at her. "I am Satou Sei at your service," Sei said bowing slightly at the girl in front of her.

"My good sir, please bring all of your rice down there and we shall meet you there," Sei said nodding at Agusto. "Ah, the money," Yumi jumped remembering her goal and turned to pay Agusto a good fifty golds. "Shall we look at other goods?" Sei asked holding out her hand. "Sure," Yumi said as she walked away with Sei trailing behind her with a raised brow, checking out the girl's backside.

_A/N: Okay, not sure how to put this but man I'm having a horrible times working on this piece (whole week), which is strange because I usually don't take that long to write a chapter (just slow on updating). Anywho, so far I got about __**five**__ suggested titles: __**The War of the Roses**__ (who is killing who?), __**The Knight and The Thief **__(I'm not sure the rest of the casts would be happy with this title), __**Love Me Not **__(sounds overly romantic, I'll save this for a more modern/drama MgM story on a rainy day), __**When They Crossed Swords**__ (don't think either of them will be carrying a sword to cross), and __**Knights of the Rose**__ (plot hint anyone? :D). They are all very nice titles, yet I'm still unable to find one fitting, so please continue on handing out more titles. Please and thank you~ _

_**ps:** Many thanks to **bobo-q, Midknight Shadowz, **and **skip83** for all the titles. ~MI_


	3. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

"What does an aristocrat like you want from a mere hunter like me?" Yumi asked as she browsed the vendors in the market streets. "Aristocrat?" Sei asked sarcastically. "I am but a mere skirt chaser, an insolence fool and best a scoundrel my fair lady. Indeed that I did come from a wealthy family, but its not aristocratic whatsoever." Sei continued letting out a short laugh of amusement. "The ways you word yourself make it hard to belief that you're not from an aristocratic bloodline," Yumi said whirling around and stared at Sei with intense mocha eyes. "Ah, you got me." Sei shrugged in an uncaring manner. "In truth, I'm just an adventurer looking for thrill and excitement, and when I heard about the mysterious Thief of Thieves…" she trailed off. "I just can't help but follow my instinct, didn't know that I would run into such a fine creature as you." Sei finished as she opened one eye to study the other girl's reaction to her story.

Unfortunately for her, Yumi had already gone way ahead of her and didn't hear a word she said. The girl was buying out fresh produces and asked to have it delivered to the lower part of the town. And Sei must admit that the girl is like a ray of sunshine for this town, she was light on her feet and always friendly with the folks in this town. _Maybe this nation needs someone like her to keep its people happy and at ease even under the oppression of tyrant rulers._ Sei mused as she puts her hands behind her head and started whistling a familiar tune that all Royal Knights must know. _Maybe she's the one I've been looking for…_ another thought entered her mind, reminding her of her true purpose for her wandering.

MgM

Under the burning sun of the desert, the four travelers walked in silence. They had entered the desert two days ago, and now it's nearly nightfall of the third day as they're getting closer to the other side of the desert that separate the Capital from the Eastern part of the Lillian Nation. They had already run out of water this morning, and in the desert there is rarely any rain or even a small pond.

The sun suddenly disappeared behind dark clouds; the travelers stopped and looked up toward the sky. Fear was written on the face of one of them, because it wasn't dark clouds that covered the sun but sands. Taken the lead, she raced to dig a hole into the sand to get out of the way. The others didn't even asked as they all helped her digging; soon it was good enough that they jumped in just as the sandstorm blown by.

Even in the roaring of the sandstorm, the sound of someone's shrill laughter echoed in the air. _The desert truly carry many secrets, _the leader of the group mused as the laughter seemed to be coming closer and closer by the seconds. Then chattering started up like the howling wind on a stormy night, they remained quiet and listened to all the noises around them. But what they didn't know was that they're currently inside the vortex of the sandstorm, to be precise the sandstorm itself isn't really a sandstorm but a vortex of traveling demons and wretched spirits of those who died journeying across the desert.

Within minutes, they're out of the hole they're in and surrounded by demons and rotten corpses that hosted the wretched souls howling for flesh. Katana, Long Samurai Sword, extended pole arm, and a well craft Damascus sword were drawn. Weapons clashed under the dark sky, body parts flying as crackling laughter continued to echo in the air. The one with the pole arm leaped into the sky, whirling her spear over her head just before she drove it down onto the sandy ground below. Splitting the earth open, inferno flame licked the enemies to ashes.

"Sachiko-sama, you could've done that and save us all from exhaustion." Shimazu Yoshino scowled as she put her sword away (hanging on her hip). "Yoshino," Hasekura Rei attempted to reprimand her subordinate and cousin. "I told her not to use it unless things get desperate," Mizuno Yoko explained sheathing her Damascus. She was cool as a cucumber and her shoulder length raven hair give her an air of aristocrat just like her fellow knights.

The storm had already cleared and the sun is burning down on them, the group hurried in hope to get out of the desert by nightfall. Peaceful time doesn't include wretched souls and demons; they are beings that know no peace. It would be nice if someone from the White Rose were there, they are known to be exceptional exorcist as well as healers. Well, one of them isn't well verse in anything but skirt chasing, she who held the position as the Queen's Advisor had always caused a ruckus in the Palace but had disappeared for months now.

The ground rumbled as the sand gave way, each of them quickly leaped out of the way before they're sucked into the quick sand (least that's what they thought it is). It was good that they all reacted quickly; otherwise they might ended up in pieces as the sand reveal razor-sharp edges of some kind underneath. Roaring to life, the edges snapped shut and pushed itself out of the ground, showing a giant Sand-Beast with a mouth of sharp teeth acting as a trap to unsuspected desert animals or travelers. The thing looked very large; on a colossal scale with a red body as prove that the creature of myth truly does exist in the Red Sand desert under the scorching sun. Many people make it looked and sounded more ferocious (than it already is), though the thing looked nothing more than a GIANT desert worm, millions of times the size of its cousin the earthworm that all farmers know of and have razor-sharp teeth and eating flesh over anything else.

Drawing her weapon, of odd design that had six sharp edges/spikes near the handle on the back of the blade, while showing a large and extremely sharp almost claw-like edge on the side of the blade by the handle, the young knight tighten her grip on it slightly just enough force to extend her dagger's (?) handle and turned it into a spear. The strong winds knocked the hood of her cloak off of her head and revealed her long flowing midnight-raven hair, as well as her determined sapphire eyes burning brightly at the beast in front of her.

_A/N: Okay, now with chapter one up, I got a few more titled suggested to me: __**Stealing Hearts **__(can't imagine Yumi being a player)__**, Thief of a Rose, Even in Peaceful Times**__ from __**Artistia & Hakuren Bishop.**__ And __**bobo-q**__ had also messaged with another title: __**Queen of the Roses**__, which had given a slight hint on where this story might be heading (hopefully not the dumpster). Oh, and to __**skip83**__: I would like to use __**Love Met Not**__ for another MgM story (idea slowly cooking my brain) if you don't mind. Finally, thank you all for helping me with the title._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Leaping in the air, the young knight swung her weapon and brought it down with incredible force, the blade of the spear glowed a pale blue aura cutting through everything before it came in contact with the giant sandworm. The **Tiphon Spear** immediately cut through the creature's hard body and with a pull, the spear pulled out flesh from within. With a quick movement, the knight had pulled her spear back to her side and whipped up a powerful surge of wind wrapped around the blade of her spear. With a roar, she directed it straight at the wounded creature, ending its life as the wind tore it up until there's nothing left to it.

Fresh blood and dry heat only made her stomach turn; Ogasawara Sachiko retracted her spear and sheathed it away behind her, under the cloak. She had never really, truly used the thing until now. Her father had taught her the way of the spear, and that once she's a knight she will sworn an oath of the Ogasawara Clan. To protect Lillian from all threats, and serve the Queen without hesitations or questioning her decisions; Sachiko thought that it's no different than the oath she had took as she become a Royal Knight.

The **Tiphon Spear** is one of the many weapons of the Gods, a pure legendary weapon only ancient scholars and master smiths talked about. It was said to be able to split the hardest rocks like cutting silk, the blade will never dull or chip away by anything. It was unknown as to how the Ogasawara Clan came to own such a powerful weapon, and even more confusing was how Sachiko had seemed to be the only one able to unlock its power.

MgM

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Sei asked over the howling wind of a winter blizzard. It has been a good two months since she met Yumi, whom either doesn't have a last name or keeping it from her but Sei decided to go with the first choice instead. "Yes, now hurry up or you'll freeze to death out here Sei-sama." Yumi replied as she's already way ahead of the blonde.

At a glance, it is easy to mistaken that these two seemed to be a perfect couple, but truth is that neither one of them have any interest in the other more than a friend or maybe a sister. True that Sei love to flirt, she'll properly flirt with anything that move (over exaggerating) and Yumi had proven to be very adorable when being flirted with (teasing is more like it). Yumi on the other hand, might be flustered easily by Sei but she's not some frail girl that needed to be protected as her master (teacher) had taught her how to hunt, fight, defend, and even kill since she learned how to walk.

They found a cave to keep warm as the wind outside picked up the dense snow on the ground. Using small rocks, Yumi made a circle out of it before pulling blocks of wood from her pouch, the one that Sei wondered if it ever has a bottom to it. Using a single match, the girl lit a piece of paper she had pulled out from her magical pouch and slowly put it to the woods.

"Tell me something Yumi-chan," Sei said scooting closer to the petite girl. "Hm?" the other one didn't looked over at the blonde as she tried to warm her hands with the heat from the fire. "Why would a girl such as you become a thief?" Sei asked not tearing her eyes from the other girl. "It's my father's last wish, to help the people and relief them of their burden since the Queen lived too far to know of the pain of her people. Besides, it's quite interesting to see how you could steal from under their nose without being caught," Yumi said and Sei swore she saw a mischievous glint flashed through those mocha eyes.

Suddenly, mocha eyes turned very alert, not the panic alert type but the strong alert type. A long howl echoed in the wind outside of the cave, before several distinctly deep and hostile growls come from outside of the cave. Grabbing her bow, Yumi cautiously watched the entrance of the cave while Sei tightens her grip on the handle of her weapon. Suddenly the storm outside didn't look so bad comparing to the monstrous beast that lunged at them from outside. For a petite person, Yumi has the reflex of a tiger as she drawn the string of her bow back and released three arrows at the intruding beast. Sei couldn't even blink but only gawking at the other girl's nimble movements, this would be the first time she'd ever felt so speechless and fascinated at the same time.

With a loud thud, the creature fell and the snow quickly cover its body. Silent reigned over them as each huddled in their own corner with a warm blanket wrapped around them. Yumi had already fallen asleep while Sei watched the flame danced happily upon the crackling woods, once in a while she will let her eyes wandered and rest on the girl's face and let her mind wandered. _She looked exactly like the Queen had described, _Sei heaved a sigh because she had been away for too long and she's missing her fellow knights and a certain woman with short raven hair and piercing amber eyes that had always been there for her through thick and thin.

MgM

"I think I'm having frostbite at this rate," Shimazu Yoshino whined as she took another step though she felt like she's barely moving with the snow up her waist. It's a bit hard to blame her, after all they did left the desert heat and only to be tossed right into the frozen tundra. "You will get frostbite if you keep on complaining and not moving," Hasekura Rei spoke harshly as the cold was slowly getting to her. "I hate you," with that Yoshino leaped up and dashed ahead as her feet gently touched the surface of the thick coat of snow. Rei suddenly regretted for snapping at her cousin and give chase, leaving the other two behind though they aren't far behind as they too can run on the snow without truly sinking into it.

By the time they found a place to rest, the storm had calmed down considerably. "Someone's here," Rei said as soon as they entered the cave. Her cousin couldn't help but rolled her eyes, it didn't take a genius to noticed that a small fire in the cave haven't gone out completely yet. With her hand on the hilt of her sword, Rei moved cautiously about the endless cave only to return twenty minutes later with a shook of her head.

They ate their rations in complete silence, and Yoshino thought she's about to go insane if this keep up. "I think we're north of the capital now," Mizuno Yoko decided to broke the cycle of endless silence. "Yeah, and I'm freezing my tailbone off," Yoshino snorted. "Yoshino," Rei reprimanded the younger girl. "Well, it's the truth!" Yoshino snapped back automatically. "Sleep," was the only order from Yoko as she looked outside at the steady snowfall. They resigned their words to Yoko and tried their best to get some sleep before moving again.

_A/N: The usual pairings (sorry to disappoint the Yumi/Sei fan), I had always visualized that someday Yoko might flay Sei alive for being so silly. As for the weapon references, Damascus is a really strong sword (did some reading into that), Tiphon Spear, you can google for a picture because it's from a game (I like the design). **ps:** **Love Me Not** (title from skip83) is currently underway, all the MgM casts will be different but I'm going to keep my focus on this story for now. Enjoy~_


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

In a flash, heat rose up and swallowed part of the small town in the cold region, the ferocious creature with the look of a part horse, part human, part spider and part whatever that let it breathe fire. Sei and Yumi dove from the balcony of the inn into the thick layer of snow below, Sei let out a low growled feeling another side of her growing but she pushed it back down. The mark on her neck suddenly becomes visible and burning intensely, grabbing a handful of snow she smothered it completely.

As a last resort, Sei drew her weapon, a shiny blade with a crafted crane on both sides, a true sign of the Royal Knights of Lillian. With a flick of her wrist, the blade turned to ice, shimmering like crystals under the morning sun. With a swung of the saber, the flame on the inn fizzled out as a mountain of snow dropped over it.

MgM

"What was that?" Yoshino asked as the earth shook yet again under her feet. "Fire, flesh…" Rei said while sniffing the cold air. It has been hours since they left the cave and moved away from the blizzard tundra, the wind never stop howling in that part of the region for some unknown reason.

"Let us make haste," Yoko said as she'd already a few yards ahead of them. Leaning forward slightly, the trio took a leap and landed about three yards from where they took off, and they kept on leaping until a sight of smoke entered their field of vision. With the heavy bag on their back, they managed to be light as a feather and barely leave any footprints in the snow.

Blood stained the pristine pure white snow; the smoke helped the already dark sky turning even darker. A wave of large insects seemed to be ready to attack the two people in the middle of the small town, among the flying creatures were goblins and some mangy mutated animals wanting nothing more than fresh meats on the ground.

"Stop!" a familiar voice shouted and the group stopped their attempt to save the strangers from death. "This is…" her breathing was ragged and her form slumped a bit. "…our… battle…" she finally finished barely able to keep her voice steady.

"Take a break Sei-sama," another voice chimed in, so warm and calm. The petite girl next to the tall one was oozing with confident and strength, Sachiko and the others couldn't help but gawked at the girl silently. "You're… you're right Yumi-chan," Sei heaved and flopped down on her butt and rested her head against her weapon. The girl reached for her emptied quiver, and suddenly it's full of arrows in a blink of an eye as she drawn out four arrows at a time and fired at the enemies. Her ability to fired arrows with a bow at rapid speed seemed impossible, yet there she stood firing away and her arrows never missed a target.

"Let's chill them out," Sei huffed as she finally regained her strength and stood up. Tighten her grip on her weapon, she leaped into the cold air and with a single swing, much of the enemies turned into ice and those in the sky fell down onto the snow covered ground. Her saber shone in the color of ice, the blade had been engrave of a dragon chasing after a rose near the back of the blade. Grinning over at her companion, the puffs of smoke from the cold air were thick and heavy in front of her but it hardly bothered her as she swung her saber a few more times to froze the rest of her enemies.

MgM

"Thank god this place doesn't have people," Sei said with a cup of hot tea in her hands. They had managed to find a home that hasn't been touched by the chaos, Yumi had already decided to rest right after she made tea for everyone was nowhere to be found. "Though I'm surprise that this house still standing even with the heavy snow and everything," Sei continued as she inhaled the wonderful aroma of rose tea. She found it to be very relaxing, and Yumi was the person that introduced her to the taste of lightly sweetened tea without the sugar of course.

"Who is she?" Yoko asked bluntly. She was never the type to beat around the bushes, unless she's manipulating you. "An interesting friend I met during my adventure," Sei replied with a grin. "What is she?" Yoshino interrupted. "Uh… a human?" Sei answered with a quirked brow as a subtle sign in asking if the younger girl lost her mind. "No, I mean what is she as in is she a traveler, hunter, vagabond, mercenary, etc.," Yoshino rolled her eyes at Sei. "Hmm…" Sei put on a thoughtful look as though she was thinking to irk Yoshino's patient.

"Sei," Yoko said as her voice hardened a bit and the blonde cringed slightly at that. "Yumi-chan is a hunter, but she enjoys traveling the world since her father passed." Sei said half-truth and half-lie. "Uh-huh…" Yoshino quirked a brow in not believing the other woman, and she has a reason not to. "What?" Sei played coy. "The Sei-sama I know doesn't travel with another person unless she hasn't get into her pants yet," Yoshino said bluntly and the others about to choke on their tea. "Hah! The great Satou Sei never failed in her pursuit of having a woman in her bed," Sei laughed at her own words. "Sadly, Yumi-chan is someone I see as a sister rather than a bed partner," Sei said dramatically.

"I think I just got traumatized," Yumi's voice drawn everyone's attention back to her as she entered the living quarter. There was a hint of redness on her cheeks from the cold water she had used to wash her face, Sei couldn't help but pounced the girl causing her to let out a light squeal of surprise. "Aww… Yumi-chan…" Sei said as she rubbed her cheek against the girl's cheek. "Sei-sama, stop it…" Yumi groaned in frustration as she tried to pry Sei off of her. Sei let out a yelp when Yumi accidentally pushed against her upper right arm, her clothes quickly stained with blood.

"Ah, I'm sorry…" Yumi quickly apologized. "Let me have a look at it," she continued as she sat Sei down and motioned the woman to roll up her sleeve. The cut was rather deep, it was a fresh wound but thanks to the cold it had closed until Yumi opened it again by accident. Reaching into her small pouch, Yumi took out a few thick leaves and used her hands to mash it up before applying over the wound. Once again, reaching into her magical pouch, Yumi pulled out a roll of bandage cloth and wrapped the wound up gently and attentively.

"There, it should heal in a day or two and there will be no scar either," Yumi said. "Thank you Yumi-chan," Sei said with a serious face for once. "You're welcome, now get some rest." Yumi replied ushering the woman off to bed. "I'm going to hunt us something to eat," she said picking up her quiver and bow. "We thank you," Yoko said with a slight bow of the head. "Sachiko, please accompany her on her hunt," she nodded to the long raven-blue mane knight sitting next to her. "Yes," the woman nodded once and got up. "Shall we?" Yumi asked while she mentally rolled her eyes. "Let us get going," the other woman replied and settled in steps with Yumi as they left the house and headed out of town.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The arrow cut the air with lightning speed, and a rabbit was cut down with one shot. But before they could even lay claim to their kill, a snow beast swoop down and took their kill from them. It had beautiful wings, but those wings could shoot needles at you and froze you in an instance and they travel in flock… pack? Yumi was about to leave it and look for another target when Sachiko leaped out from her hiding place and cut down the creature that stole her companion's kill.

Unfortunately, her action alerted the rest of the flock and they turned around and shot their feathers at her, Yumi quickly leaped out and pushed Sachiko out of the way. Letting out a low hiss, Yumi felt her right arm slowly went numb from the feather that managed to pierce her clothes and into her flesh. With one good hand, she grabbed Sachiko by the elbow and run into a small cave she spotted earlier on her way out there.

"A-are you okay?" Sachiko asked struggling with her words; she never really talked much and felt a bit awkward around Yumi. "Yes, no, do I look like I'm okay?" Yumi glared at Sachiko while showing the young knight her now ice block of an arm. Yumi rarely took displeasure in anyone, but the knight's action had nearly cost both of their lives and that had seemingly crossed her nerve. It seemed that they definitely started out on the wrong foot, or was it starting out with two left foot?

Fishing a dried plum out of her pouch (at least it looked like a plum); Yumi swallowed it quickly and grimaced at the unwelcoming taste of pure bitterness. Yanking the feather off of her hand, the hunter stood up and leaned against the wall of the cave feeling her stomach churn as the pill she had taken took effect setting her entire body on fire. A minute later, blood was gushing out of the corner of her mouth, the plum was a kind of medicine that could purge any kind of poison out of your system. And the feather created a freeze poison that not only attack the blood cells but also turned its host into frozen meat.

"Let's head out for a bit more and hopefully there's something else out there for us," Yumi said after spitting the last of the poisoned blood. Just as soon as they walked out of the cave, a large diamond skinned tundra bear (black and white stripes like the tiger) stood on its hind legs and roared at them. "This day just get worse and worse," Yumi groaned as a pile of snow on the edge of the cave fell down on top of her due to the loud roar from the bear.

"What is it?" Sachiko asked as she'd never seen anything like it before. Truth be told, she had never traveled outside the Capital before to even know how dangerous some of these places really are. "Tundra bear with diamond skin underneath that fluff fur," Yumi replied as they started running. "No weapons in the world could penetrate their skin, so they just keep on multiplying…" the hunter continued wile dodging a pair of ultra sharp and long bear claws that were aimed to put an end to her life. "So how do we kill it?" Sachiko asked over the falling piles of snow from a tree she hid behind. "What?! Weren't you listening?" Yumi shouted back. "I'm sure there's a way to kill it," Sachiko tried to explained (not really good). "An adamantine weapon might be able to… ohh… What are you doing?" Yumi's voice went high pitch when she saw Sachiko leave her hiding place and went out into the open.

"You run, I'll hold them back." Sachiko said as she drawn her weapon (currently looked like a normal sword/dagger). With a flick of her wrist, the handle extended into a full length spear, the blade of the weapon shimmered in a pale aqua glow under the tiny ray of sunlight that managed to pierce through the dark clouds above. A small amulet that hung around her neck started to glow lightly, Sachiko could've sworn that she heard her blood sing-song to her. Growling, she controlled herself before leaping up in the air and brought the spear down like that's an axe upon the head of the bear below her. But something shiny caught her attention, it has to since the thing (whatever it is) traveled at break neck speed right at her. The young knight quickly diverted her weapon and deflected whatever it was away, and the beam of light bounced off her spear and smashed into the cave destroying it easily.

The wind picked up suddenly, howling and whirling around her to keep her suspended in midair. The amulet started to glow in a deeper shade of blue, a sign that the beast within her begged to be let out and play. Sachiko tighten her grip on the spear until the knuckles turned white, her canine teeth threaten to protrude itself but she held it back like she'd held herself back.

"Who dares entering my territory?" a voice echoed in the cold air. "A little help please," Yumi's voice broken her concentration in finding the source of the voice. Yumi was running from the bears (about four of them) and quickly climbed up the snow covered pine tree, the girl had an incredible climbing skill like it was the most natural thing ever. So channeling her spiritual power into her weapon, the young knight readied her spear and dove down at the bears before to distract them from Yumi. With luck on her side, she managed to slice one of them up from the belly upward, but the others quickly got on her and she could feel something warm on her chest but it is not the time to stop and check.

"Move it," Yumi shouted just as another bear was about to struck Sachiko down for good. She had dropped from her position on the tree, while in midair she pulled out her daggers that she had kept well hidden on her back and boot. One was a Damascus dagger while another one was made out of the world's strongest metal ever, adamantine. The daggers cut through the beast's diamond skin and lodged into its back, Yumi clung onto her weapons on the towering beast as it bellowed out a cry of pain while blood stained its beautiful coat.

Thanks to her petite form, Yumi quickly disposed the remaining three bears with ease since her weapons cut through the thick diamond skin like cutting tofu. Sachiko did her fair share in helping out as well; they worked well as a team even though neither of them ever needed to said anything. Their fluid movements and eyes spoke volumes in term of defeating the enemies and staying alive. Sachiko was amazed at how such a nimble girl could prove to be so skilled and dangerous, and she couldn't help but felt so drawn to the girl's independent spirit.

"That's the last of them?" Yumi asked puffing out cold breath of the winter air. "I belief so," Sachiko replied panting a bit. They thought it was over and their new kill would make good dinner, but they were wrong because the ground started to rumble and shook under their feet. "Please tell me it's your stomach growling for foods," Yumi said, her face bares a mixture of fear and annoyance on it. Sachiko didn't know how to answer, thus she opt to just shake her head when the noises increased.

From afar, four large tundra horses (they're large and muscular for cold weather) pulled an iron carriage. The driver is but a crony old man with beard as white as the snow itself though his hair is jet black. The carriage was traveling at high speed, even in the snowy path, it didn't seem to bother the horses as they run at full speed and their eyes are the color of burning coals. This day was definitely not the day to go out hunting, and Yumi felt her stomach dropped at the sight of the many wolves running alongside the carriage.

_A/N: Yay, 2 chapters in one week. It's a miracle! Gentle reminder: I do not make a chapter longer than 2 pages (Word doc., and it would sum up to be around 1000-1400 words). So no matter how short it seems to you, it's about the same length to me and I'm not making it any longer than that (hurt my brain). Enjoy~_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Uh-oh…" Yumi murmured and turned to look over at her companion, who seemed to have frozen at the unearthly sight. "RUN!!!" she quickly grabbed onto the knight's arm and dashed away from the rumbling noises. Sachiko was so scattered by all that was going on that she wasn't aware of being dragged by the petite girl, until her lungs started to burn and her chest constricted on her did she realized that she's bleeding and running.

Lady Luck seemed to abandon them as they stopped at the edge of the cliff, scanning for a hiding place, Yumi found a small ledge to hide behind for a bit until she could formulate a plan about this mess. Sachiko was breathing hard, almost ragged by that moment and the petite hunter took noticed of the blood stained clothes on the knight. She quickly loosen the sash (cloth belt) on Sachiko and looked at the wounds, if it had been a less urgent moment, Yumi might stop to admire the pale and smooth flesh and maybe blushed deeply. She fished a few thick leaves from her magical pouch, shove them in her mouth and started chewing on them until they were good enough did she spit it out onto her hands and rubbed it over the wounds. Sachiko hissed, but it wasn't from the soggy leaves but the cold air that might as well turned her skin into ice, she felt gentle hands and feather-light fingers moved across her chest and next thing she knew she was all wrapped up and her clothes back to being the way it was.

"Thank you…" Sachiko said. "What are those?" Sachiko asked as she finally managed to gather her brain back together. "I don't know, never seen them before." Yumi paused trying to think if she'd ever did the last time she was here with her teacher. Silence fell upon them (not with all the noises) as both trying to figure out how to get out of this place alive, Sachiko felt her blood burns with excitement as the Silent Watcher wanted to get out and play a bloody game. The situation, left little choice for her and tightened her grip on her spear one last time before sheathing it away as she'd made up her mind.

Leaving safety behind, Sachiko leaned forward with her hands touching the snow. The amulet around her neck glowed in a deep shade of blue as her fingers increase in size and quickly turned into incredible sharp claws, while her body transformed into a giant creature with dark blue mane like the color of her hair ripping her clothes off completely. The only thing that survived the transformation was the belt around her waist that held the sheath and the spear together in one place was still there.

Snarling, Sachiko let out a long howl that echoed in the cold whirling wind above, the Silent Watcher had come out and play and she's thirsty for blood. In a flash, the ten feet tall werewolf cleared out all of the big wolves with just a few swipes of her claws, spilling endless amount of blood on the snow as blood dripping off of her claws. Baring her fangs and grinning, she quickly disposed of the horses and that caused the carriage to went sliding though the driver still looked as calm as usual. For a frail old man, he cracked out the whip that hung on his side and used it to pull the carriage back from dropping over the cliff with ease.

Meanwhile, Yumi peek out and just stared at all that was going on, Sachiko's transformation didn't even scare her in the least bit. For all it does was sparking her interest in the young knight, after all her teacher had taught her well into the legend of such creatures. As he himself had shown her his true form more than once, many of them were during her training session in survival.

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"_Remember little Yumi, I follow the teaching of Gaia's eldest son: Inu Kentaro, the Fox Deity. Under his guidance I am blessed with his power to be able to take the form is a fox," a gray fox said to Yumi in a gentle voice. "Of course, there are others that follow the teaching of Gaia's other children: Saito Yuki, the Tiger Deity, Inu Fuji, the Wolf Deity, and Sohma Miko, the Crane Deity and others. Not all of her children are good deities," the fox said as Yumi nodded her head trying to comprehend what her teacher had told her. After all, she was only six years old and they were deep in a forest hunting for foods when her teacher transformed to take down a wolf._

"_Will I be able to be like you too?" young Yumi asked innocently. "Of course my little Yumi, but you must train more and I shall teach you everything I know." Laughing happily, young Yumi hugged the fox before picking up her bow and quiver. From that day on, Yumi had learned to read, write, table manner (that the rich people use), and after four years she earned herself an amulet made out of a ruby stone. It took her a few more years to master the art of transformation, but unlike her teacher she transformed into a cute little fox._

"_My little Yumi," her teacher said hoarsely as he lay in his bed. "Sensei, you should conserve your energy and rest," Yumi said, at fourteen she had become a lovely young lady and an incredible hunter. Her teacher, who fell ill just weeks ago now bedridden, his hair is white as the winter snow. "Yumi, listen to me…" he coughed once. "Once I am gone, I want you to travel Lillian Kingdom and help the less fortunate as the Queen lived too far to hear the cry for help from her people. Use my bow and quiver," he paused to catch his breaths. "They were given to me by Inu Kentaro himself, also take this pouch, it can hold anything in indefinite amount. Never show your form unless it is a matter of life and death, promise me…" his voice grown weaker but his grip on her hands remained incredibly strong. "Mm," Yumi nodded holding herself from bursting into tears. "My sweet little Yumi, play me a song with the leaves like I had taught you," he gave her a weak but gentle smile and she went out and plucked two leaves from a tree nearby. By the time she finished the song; her teacher had closed his eyes and drawn his breath. Gaia had welcomed him into her arms and gives him an eternal resting._

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A crack of the whip wrapped itself around Sachiko's wrist, with a growl she grabbed onto the whip and yanked it so hard that the frail old man went flying smash into the carriage. He coughed up dark blood, which was something that Yumi felt isn't quite right. And she was right when the man grinned at Sachiko, tighten his grip on the whip handle, he fused his power into it and turned the whip into a thorny one that cut into her flesh.

"This is not good…" Yumi murmured pulling a handful of what seemed like a stack of thin metals out from a pocket on her shirt. "May Gaia guide me and may Kentaro-sama give me the power to purify evil," she said under her breathe and used her thumb to spread out the pieces of sharp and thin metal. With four in each hand, Yumi closed her eyes and relied on her ears to guide her because the sight of comrade in pain will make it harder to her to target.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Whirling around, Yumi threw her weapons while her eyes remained close moving so fluidly on the snow like she was dancing. Her weapons hit its mark, and exploded causing the old man to let out a loud cry of sheer pain. That caused him to let go of the whips and caused the carriage to slip closer to the edge of the cliff, but something inside of it blown the door off with incredible force.

A dark cloud of insects buzzed out of the carriage and over to the frail old man, latching themselves onto him and picked him up until he was in midair. "You dare challenge us?" he opened his mouth and the sound of million people speaking at the same time echoed from him. His eyes were no longer there, it was replaced with dark hallow holes, his frail and boney hands turned shiny and harden shell with ragged edges on them, wings sprouted from his back as his muscles increased rapidly. "You will make tasty snacks for us…" his words become rather hissed for some strange reason and now isn't the time to be thinking about it.

"In your dream!" Sachiko growled as she dug her claws into his chest. With the beating heart still beating in her hand… claws? Either way, it was still beating steadily, even though his body slumped forward a bit and blood spilled from his mouth. With a simple motion, she crushed his heart to nothing and the blood spilled from it was far from fresh, it was black and maggots spilled out along with the blood itself.

"You fool!" Yumi uttered so much as she quickly yanked the wolf by the back of its neck and pulled it away from the body. Just so, the body rejuvenated with unbelievable speed, but the heart wasn't restored though it matter little in the situation. She quickly took the hand that stuck through the grossest body infested with insects, and shoved it into the foot tall snow under them. If it was someone else, Yumi would've simply let the idiot become the stable meal for the maggots that will soon grow mouth with razor sharp teeth. Simply because she had no interest in any forms or shapes to save an idiot, she was taught that _if an idiot wanted to jump in the fire, let him dot it to satisfy his own stupidity._

"Keep your hand there," she spoke and turned around and pulling a few black balls from the pouch. There was a wick on each ball, something told Sachiko to not question where in the hell did the girl got all those weird arsenals from or how she even managed to shove so many things into such a small pouch. With a single breathe, she blew across the wicks and ignited the sparks, Yumi aimed at the man and tossed her small bombs and never forgetting her bow and arrows as she launched rapidly at her target. The normal arrows quickly burst into flame just seconds before hitting its mark; it was something that set the wolf gawking at the petite hunter while keeping her hand in the snow still.

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Slinging a large tundra rabbit over on her back, using her cloak to wrap a seemingly pup wolf up. Yumi was glad that she had wore at least four layers of warm clothing or she might froze to death without her cloak, it was made out of the kind of silk that will keep the wearer warm in the coldest winter and cool in the hottest summer. Just a few minutes earlier, she had managed to destroy a plague of insects that she rather not know what they are by burning them to ashes. Then she attempted to treat the young knight by sitting there in the cold picking at the frozen maggots one by one with a long red needle she kept on the sheath of one of her daggers.

Unfortunately, some of them had already tasted the blood of the wolf and the chances of the thing's saliva getting into the bloodstream were high. She had forced the wolf to take a precautionary pill in a form of what looked like dried raisin, but it tasted superbly sour and strangely spicy at the same time. Maybe it was hot enough to turn the big bad wolf into a passed out pup, Yumi was surprised when the knight went poof and turned into an adorable dark blue puppy that she quirked her brow for a long moment before wrapping it up with her cloak.

Trudging back to the house was a bit hard, in this region time seemed to be at a stand still as they sky always remained dark and eerie and no sunlight could shone through even if it's not snowing. _I'm starting to think its rotten luck that I ran into these people. First was the flirtacious aristocrat and now a bunch of dangerous people that seem to be too well-verse in the art of fighting and killing._ Her mind wandered as her feet marched silently through unfamiliar path, even though the fresh snow had covered the tracks, Yumi had no problem in following direction base upon her instincts. She just felt a bit worn out with all the weird things that had been going on since she ran into Satou Sei, it's like beasts and monsters were drawn to the blonde woman and she's thrust into something she isn't so compelled enough to go beyond her ability to help other people.

Her goal wasn't even to get herself involve with strange people, all she was doing was to travel the nation itself once and return to her home deep in the forest and spend the rest of her life living in seclude like she had when her master was still alive. Yumi had never questioned her origin or her family, all she knew was her master and that was enough for her. She was happy with a quiet life, never interest in being the hero or adventures.

"Sensei, sometimes I feel like you know all of this would be happening to me and yet you still wanted me to go out into the world." Yumi murmured just as the quiet house come into view. "Or maybe you're laughing at me from beyond," her face crunched up and she stopped walking just to look upward into the dark sky above.

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"Ah, welcome back Yumi-chan…" Sei trailed off when she saw only Yumi entering the house. "Where's Sachiko?" the blonde asked peeking out at the vast white color outside. "If I was a weak-hearted person, I might've been dead from fright by now." Yumi said flatly as she undone her cloak and hold the pup its furry skin near the neck. Handing the unconscious pup off to Sei, Yumi signaled the woman to get out of her way and headed into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Somehow, I don't want to know why she's all grumpy or why Sachiko turned into this…" Sei said pointing to the pup on her arm while looking at Mizuno Yoko. "Sachiko would not be so recklessly transforming in front of others, it must've been a really dire situation." Yoko said brushing her fingers against the bandaged chest of the pup and along with its paws. "Wow, she really knows how to take care of people," Sei said in a thoughtful tone it could've been easily mistaken as a playful tone since there isn't a lot of different between the two.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

They had been there for more than two days already, and Yumi was ready to leave for the next town or city. Growing up in the warm region, this was not her type of place though it doesn't stop her from hunting and doing her morning meditation. Yumi always made it that there are at least five minutes she spent alone to get herself in touch with nature.

Sachiko become very observant of the young hunter, the girl absolutely fascinated her though she make sure that the girl would never know that she's watching. Yoshino, her fellow knight, however, made no attempt to hide her interest in the hunter and seemed to pester the girl a little too much for Sachiko's liking. And worst was that her eyes would turn to slit whenever Sei approached the girl with an all too friendly manner, that woman enjoyed surprising the girl too much to be seeing her as a little sister.

"Yumi-san, where did you grow up at?" Yoshino asked bluntly. "The mountain," Yumi replied while polishing her bow. "Where though?" Yoshino pushed. "The mountain the borderline with the Darg Nation," Yumi said while focusing on restringing her bow. "So have you ever been to the Capital before Yumi-san?" Yoshino asked as she took a wet stone and started to sharpen her katana in the rigid weather with the young hunter in the back of the house. "No, I want to travel north and then west. Five years of traveling around the country was my promise to him," Yumi murmured though not so low that Yoshino couldn't hear her. "Well, you know what? When you done with your promise, stop by the Capital and ask for Shimazu Yoshino. I will take you to the best hot spring in the city and dine at the finest restaurant and drink the best sake in the world." Yoshino said with a grin before bursting out laughing whole-heartedly at the varied emotions flashing through the hunter's face.

"I would like that very much Shimazu-san," a small smile graced her lips. _Yes! I got a new friend, one that isn't so fearful of me. _Yoshino mentally noted, "Pff… call me Yoshino, don't need to be so formal Yumi-san. I'm only twenty-two and I would assume that you're of my age," the confident knight flashed a smile at her. "Of course," Yumi nodded at the girl. "Put it there my fellow friend and traveler," Yoshino said holding out her hand to Yumi. After a moment of hesitation, the girl relents and grabbed the warrior's hand and gives it a light shook. "Friend…" the hunter nodded and yelped when Yoshino pulled her in for a friendly hug and a pad on the back.

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"She's gone!" Yoshino shouted while panting. They had spent the morning searching for any signs of the young hunter, the night before Yumi had say something along the line that it's time for them to part as she have a promise to keep. But everyone was in such a festive mood that they hadn't really taken her words seriously and maybe because she knew they wouldn't when she says it to them. It wasn't clear at to why, but it's clear that she doesn't want to be traveling with them.

"Sachiko, pick up her trail and follow her, I want you to keep a close eye on her. The rest of us will head east, corruption there had really hurting the people and it's time we lend our strength to take down those imbeciles." Sei said taking charge of the situation while Yoko just sit back and enjoy her morning tea. "…" Sachiko said nothing as she got up and gave Sei and Yoko a salute then grabbed her bag and she was gone, out of sight in an instance. "May Gaia protect them," Sei murmured to herself so that no one heard her.

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"Oh, it's a crystal daikon radish…" Yumi exclaimed excitedly as she started digging through the knee-deep snow. Her grin widen as she pulled a large ice crystal looking radish root out of the ground, the leave to the thing was as white as snow that it's impossible see let alone dug it out. Opening the small pouch, she put the root into it and got up eyeing the unmarked road ahead of her.

She walked for hours, by a guessing estimate the time would be in the early afternoon when she reached a row of nothing but snow covered mountains. It is surely on the map that there is no way to cross from north to west without heading to the Capital first. At least that's what all those incompetent idiots thought, but Yumi isn't an incompetent idiot as she walked along the wall of the mountains.

"You know, I'm not some kind of prey for you to stalk," Yumi said coldly while she continued to search for something on the snowy wall in front of her. Crunching sound of the snow meant that there's another presence beside her but it didn't seemed to bother her enough to turn around. "H-how did you know?" Sachiko asked taking a few steps closer to the petite hunter. "I'm a hunter before I was a traveler," Yumi replied brushing away a part of the wall. "Aha!" she said to no one in particular, with a kick the wall made of snow collapsed and reveal a tunnel passage.

"In a day or two, that opening will be closed completely by snow again. Let us get going, it has been many years since this tunnel was used and we don't know what's in there waiting for us." Yumi said in a rather light tone. "How's your hand and chest?" Yumi asked changing the flow of the conversation, she had no interest in telling Sachiko what kind of monsters might be making home in this frozen tunnel. "It healed," Sachiko replied showing the girl both of her hands because she didn't wear gloves. "Delicate hands should always be keep warm in this far and cold place," Yumi said as she pulled a pair of gloves out from behind her first layer of thick clothing and handed them to Sachiko. "Thank you…" Sachiko blushed lightly as she put on the gloves. She was a bit embarrassed by the girl's comment; never had anyone made her felt as strange as she is right now. Her stomach suddenly got filled with butterflies fluttering about, it made Sachiko's other self felt all giddy all of a sudden that she found herself with a goofy smile even if it only lasted for a few seconds before she caught herself and put on her mask.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The petite girl didn't seem to have notice, and if she did she's not showing it. Yumi had made a point to left them behind, yet here is one of them tailgating her. Alone, she could move around more easily and swiftly without being detected, but with another person that scenario changed completely. _Maybe I could get her drunk or drug her and leave her at the next town,_ she pondered as she walked carefully on the ice covered floor. By her calculation, night had probably already set in on the outside world, though in here it's always dark but neither need lights to see. Not to mention, Yumi was holding a palm-size illumination rock that gave out a nice glow to see what's ahead.

They avoided many pitfalls, but then they decided to get some rest. Yumi had set up a tent and drawn a circle around it; taking out a talisman from the pouch she placed it right on top of the tent. Sachiko didn't ask and the other girl didn't bother to explain, she's just too exhausted to say anything as they both get into the tent and fell asleep immediately. It was a fragile peaceful moment, until the rumbling noises outside woke them up.

"Stay," the petite hunter said sleepily as she grabbed onto Sachiko's arm. "I must see what is going on out there," Sachiko whispered firmly. "If you go out, you would get us both kill for good this time." Yumi said coldly and the knight winced inwardly at that. "Look," Yumi said after heaving out a sigh of mild irritation. "I've put up and invisible ward on the tent, if you go out now will give away our location to whatever it is out there. I for once would like to just sleep instead of running for my life," she finished letting out a long yawn. Sachiko sat there for a long moment before she nodded in resign and lay back down, moving closer she scooped the already asleep hunter into her arms and drift back to sleep.

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"Whoa!" Yumi stopped and Sachiko bumped into her, nearly knocking the poor girl over the edge. "How do we get down?" Sachiko asked but not looking down. "Climb down," Yumi answered pulling out spikes for her boots and claws for her hands; she gave Sachiko an extra set of spikes and tied the rope around the knight's waist. "You ready?" Yumi asked noticing the knight look a bit pale. "Just don't look down," Yumi said in a gentler tone as she started to descend.

For a fearless person, Ogasawara Sachiko had an uncanny fear for height but the girl's words sooth her fear enough that she followed to lead and slowly made her way down without looking down. They moved slowly, and Sachiko had to use her power to turn her hands into sharp claws since Yumi didn't have an extra pair of claws in the pouch. By the time they reached the bottom of the other side of the mountain, night had already invaded the sun and they set camp. While Sachiko gathered firewood, Yumi had gone to hunt for some foods and come back with plenty of fruits and some fishes.

"Sorry…" Sachiko murmured over dinner (fruits and grilled fishes). "For what?" Yumi asked with a quirked brow looking over at her companion. "For everything," she said without looking at the hunter. "All is forgiven, though if you do it again I might just let you die instead." Yumi said and Sachiko looked a bit crestfallen. "I know that it's a knight's duty to save lives and whatnot, but I'm not some damsel in distress that needs saving. But we could work together to get out of the mess that Gaia tend to put us in," Yumi quickly explained before that sad puppy face went even sadder. "Sounds good?" she looked over at the knight, who seemed to be deep in thought. "I would like that very much," Sachiko nodded and smiled a little at the hunter.

"You know, you should smile more. You look lovely when you smile, though I think you're just lovely in general." Yumi said absentmindedly as she went back to eating her dinner. Poor Sachiko ended up choking on her food and coughing badly upon receiving such compliment from a cute hunter that her cheeks flushed. "Are you okay?" Yumi asked looking at Sachiko with concerned as she pulled out a canteen full of water and handed it over to Sachiko. "Y-yes…" Sachiko replied in between coughs. Sachiko took small sips of the water to calm down her flushing cheeks and her racing heart also.

MgM

Arrows cut the air and grazed his cheek, just enough to drawn blood and made him peed in his pants. "Are you sure that you're still trying to rob us?" Yumi asked with a quirked brow staring at the slim guy dropping onto the ground and weeping like a baby. "N-no… please… have mercy…" he begged, it was a pathetic sight. "Then be gone from our sight, or I shall skin you." Sachiko pointed her weapon at the man. With rapid nods, he scurried away as fast as his shaky legs could carry him.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Yumi asked as they continued their walk down the empty road in the forest. "Hmm… I guess so…" Sachiko said thoughtfully. Before anything else could be exchange between them, something caught Sachiko's eyes and she quickly pushed Yumi out of the way. Multiple arrows missed them and hit the ground, dragging the petite girl and leaped aside just as the ground below them gives way into a trap. Together they run until they reached an abandon home that was covered in cobwebs and layers of dust, just as they got inside the sky decided to start a downpour on them.

Just then, the sounds of footsteps approaching causing the two women to find a hiding place, and lucky for them as there was a small room in the back hidden from normal view. Yumi quickly shoved Sachiko inside and got inside herself, it was a tight space and Sachiko gasped when she felt the petite hunter's body pushed against her own body but Yumi quickly put her hand over Sachiko's mouth to keep her quiet.

"You fool, couldn't even take a few girls down on your own. Useless fool," a man scolded something as he entered the sheltered home. "B-but boss, they have weapons…" a familiar shaky voice replied. "Then you should use the dart to take them out," the first one snapped. "Do you know how angry the Young Master going to be when we come back empty-handed?" the first one asked. "Very…" the second one whimpered. "Yes, now let's get back out there and search for them," the first one snapped and the sounds of footsteps quickly faded away along with the lifting rain.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

If it was under normal circumstances, Yumi might find this to be an uncomfortable and compromising position, but right now it seemed that another group of people had approached the abandon house yet again. The footsteps were light and soft, it was as though they're careful with their walking. Yumi just let out a silent sigh as she rested her head against Sachiko's shoulder; all the while her hand still remained over the young knight's mouth.

"Do you think they will know it's us if we dress this way?" a rather feminine voice echoed in the abandon home. "Just remember to act like a man," the other one replied in a more stern tone. "But Ojou-sama, I've never been a man before," the first one whined. "Kenta, it's not ojou-sama but nii-san," the second scolded. "Yes, yes, I forgot…" a light playful tone came from the first one.

Yumi didn't wait for anymore, as the other two carried on the conversation, she quietly moved out of the lack of space of a room and pulled Sachiko along with her until they're outside. "They were probably the girls the guys from earlier were looking for," Yumi whispered as she took her hand away from Sachiko's mouth. "I'm going to offer my service to them," Sachiko said as she readied to walk back in. "Be my guess," Yumi said nonchalantly as she spied something out of the corner of her eyes and moved after it. Sachiko was at a lost of word when she turned around, gaping at the hunter who was digging at the ground. Her normal hunting knife is now a small shovel, as she kept on digging in a row and pulling up quite a lot of roots as far as Sachiko could tell that is.

"Well, you can either play _rescue the damsel in distress_ or you can help me gather some firewood for dinner, since the sun is going to sleep soon." Yumi said motioning at the pile of roots in her arms. Sachiko obeyed and gathered some firewood, together they turned around and instead of going inside they walked up to the front of the entrance and walked in like this was their first time there. The place was emptied, and the two women instinctively knew where the other two had gone to but Yumi didn't seem to make an effort in finding them.

"You two can come out now," Yumi said casually like it's the most natural thing in the world. She was poking at the fire, watching the sweet potatoes from being burnt. While her partner, silently using a whetstone to sharpen her weapon while her mind brooding over the incident in the small closet of a room. She hadn't expected her body to reacted to the younger girl's body, never had she had that problem before and now it's boggling her mind that is until her stomach growled. A light wind chime sound drifted to Sachiko's ears and she looked up to find her companion giggling at her while two other figures moved out from behind a collapsing roof acting as a wall. Ignoring the other presences completely, Sachiko relished the beautiful laughter from her companion's lips as her eyes seemed to have been glued to the girl's soft and moist lips before her.

MgM

Raising her bow and pulled the arrow back, Yumi took aim for a high-class home built of high brick walls and fine red oak. More than half a mile away, she aimed and let go of the arrow watching it cut through the air with incredible speed. The arrow moved fast and pierced through the paper windows and mark onto the high chair of whoever ruled the house might be sitting. Wrapping around the arrow was a small piece of paper, announcing that tonight the Thief of Thieves still laid claim to the fortune of the manor.

She and the knight shared a room as the other two shared a room, the girls introduced themselves as siblings but after a while felt like they should be telling the truth. Revealing themselves as a young daughter of the Count of this city, her cousin had killed her father and now taking over the ruling power as well as a forced marriage between them. Escaping with their lives intact, they planned to travel to the Capital to beg for help from the Queen.

"We should help them," Sachiko said after a long moment of silent. "I don't see why we should," Yumi said putting her bow and quiver away before she sat down and pour herself a cup of tea. "They are weak and are forced into an unwanted marriage," Sachiko replied with a stern look in her sapphire eyes. "They can stand for themselves, and they are far more capable than they seemed to be." Yumi said sipping her tea. "No frail girls could walk so lightly that they hardly made any sounds," Yumi proceed to explain before Sachiko even had a chance to ask. "If I weren't a hunter, I wouldn't even be able to pick up on their light footsteps. I have no interest in meddling into other people's affair," she said calmly ignoring the glaring eyes from Sachiko.

Sachiko remained silent for a long moment, thinking over the other girl's words. Analyzing and realizing that she had been fooled, and if her companion hadn't pointed out to her she would no doubt put herself at risk over a trivial matter. Nodding her head, she just agreed with the girl silently.

MgM

"Ah, Todou-san, just in time…" Kashiwagi Suguru greeted Todou Shimako as he was on his way out of the Queen's room. "Please look after Sa-chan, to make sure that nothing could harm her." Suguru whispered to her. There are ears and eyes in the Palace and he certainly doesn't want to get unwanted attention on him, after all he wouldn't be the man he is today if it weren't for the Queen's grace. "Thank you for your kind words," Todou Shimako replied as she gave him a curt bow.

Kashiwagi Suguru, a young man with a bright future, he is a highly regarded scholar as the young age of twenty-five. If anyone didn't know him, might considered that he's nothing more than a son of a highly ranked official with great looks. But in all honesty, Suguru never cared about his good looks, though he would sometimes used it to mused himself when the ladies looked swooned on a dull day. And since his cousin's departure from the Capital, his days indeed become rather dull and boring.

Meanwhile, Shimako entered the Queen's chamber and greeted the woman behind the bamboo currently politely. "I have sent Noriko to look into the matter," the soft and gentle voice behind the current said before Shimako could even voice her question. "Then I shall prepare some fine herbal tea for Her Majesty," Shimako spoke in a soft and quiet tone. "You are always such a delicate girl," the Queen said in a light musing tone. "It's no wonder Noriko adores you," a light giggled came from the Queen as Shimako felt her cheeks heating up. She knew that her subordinate never once looked at her in such way that would give away anything but respect and admiration, though when they're alone Noriko had on one occasion admitted to adore her in a way that a man would adore a woman.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"We're expecting you, Thief of Thieves," a low but shrilling laughter echoed throughout the manor. "Hmph, you're too kind Count Yasou," a muffled voice replied behind a misery mask. "You who held a position of power dare to use it to your own benefit and forcing young girls into serving as your sex slaves, thus result in your demise as I shall be the one to judge you. As for your cousin, she will face the same fate as you," the Thief of Thieves spoke coldly through her mask as she remained dangling in midair by the leg.

"Hah! The one that's going to die are you," a man said emerging from the shadow as the torches lit up, and behind him were the two women from the abandon house. The man was tall, handsome and dark skinned, but the Thief show no sign of struggle or attempting to escape. "Big talk for a man who smells of rotten flesh," the Thief replied. With a swift motion, a blade was drawn and the rope that held her up was cut and the Thief landed on the ground gracefully though the impact on the ground spoke differently as the wooden floor seemed to have given out under her weight for some unknown reason.

"In the name of Her Majesty, I hereby rid this place of the plague that is harming the citizens," the Thief said as the handle of the blade extended into a spear. A shimmering glow of pale blue emitted from the blade of the spear, the leather gloved hand raised it up and pointed the spear at the young man. "Under the order of Her Majesty, I shall now punish those who treat a life as mere objects. Howling Wolf," she said as the sound of howling wind picked up and one with enough spiritual training could see the powerful wind forming around the blade of the Tiphon Spear.

The young man and his cousin drawn their blades and clashed against the Thief, but when multiple thin knives cut through the air and hit its mark on the woman's body immobilized her immediately the end of the battle had been decided. For a person with a spear in a rather large basement, she managed to move fluidly blocking the young Count's attack with no difficulties to it. Until he tossed a handful of ashes that he had kept hidden from under his sleeve, stung she was unable to see the coming blade that was aimed to decapitate her head and maybe the rest of her limbs will follow.

Her companion saw the scene and came to a decision, "Duck and roll back!" The girl made no effort as she moved in and grabbed onto the sword with her bare hand, drawing blood though she shown no sign of pain from it. Anger quickly flashed across her mocha eyes, with a flick of her wrist, she snapped the blade in half and stabbed his chest with it while the broken half slit her arm open. "An act of evil, a soulless corpse, returns to the Abyss and waits for your sentence!" the girl said and breathes fire at the young Count, burning him to ashes. "O Pitiful souls, bound by hatred, gather around as I give you peace. Travel towards the light, under Gaia's guide will you find eternal happiness. Be gone!"

The unearthly sound of chains rattling even though there are no chains around, the moaning of the souls trapped in the basement growing louder and louder and suddenly all was quiet again. Dragging the unconscious body to a safe corner, the girl walked around of the basement, leaving the Thief to trail behind her. They said nothing, though the Thief seemed to have picking up the scent of blood and immediately scooped her companion up and left the parameter without leaving any behind.

MgM

"Are you always this reckless?" Sachiko scolded Yumi as she stitched the girl's open arm up. "Yes, I am reckless because someone decided to play Thief," Yumi retorted. It was obvious that she's in a sour mood because this would be a first time she'd ever got this kind of wound on her, and she's not even sure what had led her to stupidly do such a thing that now she won't be able to hold anything for a while. Then neither speaks for a long time and Sachiko quietly excused herself to take care of some business, Yumi tiredly waved her hand in acknowledgement. As soon as Sachiko left, she let her head hit the table and let out a low groaning sound before heaving a sigh.

_God, I'm losing my mind_, Yumi thought quietly to herself as she got up and dragged herself back to bed. She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping, but when she woke up Sachiko was sitting there staring at her. "What time is it?" she asked rolling over to the other side and closed her eyes again. "A quarter 'til midnight," Sachiko replied not moving from her spot. That caused Yumi's eyes to fly wide open, she was sure that they returned at around two in the morning, and she can't possibly slept the whole day and half of the night away already. "How long have I been sleeping?" Yumi asked rolling over and sat up, and a wave of dizziness hit her immediately. "Near forty-eight hours," Sachiko answered staring at a half-awake and half-asleep Yumi sitting on the bed. "The town is in the process of electing a new Mayor instead of Count, which they will then send to the Capital to pay the Queen a proper visit and explain the situation of the city to Her Majesty." Sachiko proceeds on explaining as Yumi rubbed her eyes to chase away the remaining amount of tiredness on her body.

Soon, they left the city behind and the money Yumi took from the dead count was distributed to the people by means of foods and clothes. As it turned out, it was the girl that used some kind of forbidden arts to bring her cousin back to life after her father killed him for committing lustful act to his daughter. After all, they were very close cousins, but the consequences was that he would continuously need to consume women to keep his body from truly rot away. For her crime and everyone that involved, Sachiko sentenced them to death when she took over the manor when she left Yumi that morning. Once that was over, she put up a new law and enforced it so that the people get a chance to vote for their new mayor that will represent them before the Queen. A democratic system within the monarchy system, it was quite a strange thing to see.

MgM

"I really don't see why we need a horse, we could just walk and that way we could appreciate the sceneries." Yumi said as Sachiko got on behind her. She was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that they're riding one horse, with Sachiko being the one holding the rein and Yumi just sitting in the front in the young knight's arms. "We can still appreciate the sceneries this way, but I think its best that we ride a horse for a while. And I don't think you're in any condition to ride alone as your arm is still healing," Sachiko said as though she'd read the other girl's mind.

Sachiko had used her own money and a little help from Yumi to buy two horses, one for them and another one to carry some dry rations they bought on their last stop at a quiet village near the Serpent River. Yumi on the other hand, could've healed her wound with her usual leaves that she kept in her magical pouch but didn't. Her reason was simple; this part of the nation is as peaceful as it could be. Another reason was that, she's allergic to the leaves if applied to her wound. Any open wounds or sores should the juice from the leaves managed to get into, Yumi's body would react rather violently to it and it was the one thing her teacher told her to never apply any healing remedies on herself. It happened once and even though she vaguely remembered it, but her teacher shown her his memory of that day and she swore to never used it ever again. Her curiosity died that day, and Yumi never again felt curious about testing any type of healing methods on herself ever again.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"I'm soaked," Sachiko murmured under her breath. _Aw man, I can't believe I'm all wet… _Yumi's mind groaned. A crack of thunder could be heard and a strike of lightning flashed by outside, they made a stop by an old home on the side of the road. It wasn't in their plan to stop, but the suddenly pouring caused them to quickly find a place to shelter themselves under before they both get soak to the bone and get sick.

They found some unused clothes, and changed out of their wet clothes. For the first time, Sachiko wore a dress and Yumi looked much like the handsome husband um… man? But before all that, Yumi had left Sachiko alone to change as she went to get the horses into a small barn behind the house and dried them off while they graze on from old hays. While there, she found something peculiar, not really though it was something that normal people would scream or faint. A pile of bones in the back of the barn, it seemed that they've been dead for some years and maybe the rats had eaten the flesh off. Yumi gathered the bones and dug a hole behind the barn, giving it proper burial well as proper as she could anyway.

Yumi helped Sachiko tied her hair back loosely with a red ribbon, "There, now you look like a blushing bride." Sachiko froze at the hunter's words, the heat was rising from behind her cheeks, and slowly a hint of red hue tinted her pale cheeks. Yumi walked over to the table and poured some hot tea into the cups, they sat in awkward silence and sip hot tea to warm their soul. Then they switched clothes with each other, and not a moment too soon someone knocked on the door. Yumi quickly gave Sachiko a beard to make the young knight looked _manly_.

"Excuse me; did you happen to see two women passing by here? One tall and one short," a gruff-looking man asked as Sachiko opened the door. "No, we haven't seen anyone around here since we got here yesterday," Sachiko said in a low tone to sound more like a man. "My wife and I just bought this home from the previous owners," Sachiko as the man invited himself inside and looked around. Tighten her jaw, Sachiko closed the door behind him but inside she's ready to slit his throat for his rude behavior. Even more so when she heard him said _beautiful_ at the sight of Yumi coming out of the kitchen in a pale leaf patterns yukata, she was carrying a tray of tea and snacks.

MgM

"Why did you kill him?" Yumi asked after the left the place earlier in the morning. "He was a spy sent from the Capital," Sachiko said hiding the other reason why she killed him. _A beautiful flower should be admired but never touch; because it will not be pure anymore as it will be tainted once it is touched. _The Silent Watcher, the beast inside of her said in a poetic tone, something Sachiko doesn't remember of having.

Back at the old house, a head without eyes sitting on the table, the eyes lost somewhere in the backyard of the place. Half of the body laying on the bed as the other half lay on the table in the kitchen with a big knife next to it. The heart and other organs were placed in a wok like it's ready to be cook, and the fresh herbs and spices placed next to it didn't really help much.

"I'm serious, any normal person would've fainted or have their heart burst and died from it by now." Yumi said when they stopped to camp for the night. "Although I can't say I could to better, if given the chance I might skin him alive." Yumi added as she started the fire and Sachiko was gaping at her speechlessly. Who would've thought that the seemingly sweet person could be so scary?

They rested for a few hours and packed up and get going again, and instead of riding on their horses the duo walked along with their horses instead. Suddenly Yumi decided to freed the beasts and travel on foot instead, Sachiko disagreed to it at first but it didn't took her long to cave-in and followed the other girl's lead. And not an hour after they did that, shadows started chasing and attacking them relentlessly and neither knew what in the hell was going on.

"Such darkness…" Yumi said panting heavily from running. "We must come to the Capital, something is happening to the Queen…" Sachiko said as she kept her pace with Yumi. "No, we must destroy these shadows first," Yumi replied as she stopped and leaped back at the shadow that was closes to her. With her index and middle fingers, Yumi penetrated the shadow's chest before forcing enough of her spiritual energy into her fingers and burn the thing to ash. But another one quickly replaced its fallen comrade and Sachiko leaped up in the air and cut it down with her Tiphon Spear skillfully as she slowly changed into a giant wolf with midnight mane. Yumi put her bow away as she drawn her daggers out, standing in an open field with their back against each other.

MgM

"How are things?" Satou Sei asked her subordinate as soon as she got back to the Palace. "She's getting stronger, and they're sending stronger force after her. If she should fall, the girl will die…" Nijou Noriko reported in a tone that shows no emotions. "Keep a watch on them, Shimako, please keep the Queen safe. The Yellow Roses are currently gathering evidences of a conspiracy of the Kashiwagi Family," Sei said with a serious face. Thing was starting to get bad just before she left under the order of the Queen, but now it's getting out of hands as Kashiwagi Mitsuru plot to dethrone the current ruler.

Sei gave her orders and quickly left for the Queen's chamber, where her fellow knight awaits her presence. Sei never felt the need to knock before entering, but this time she straighten out her regular uniform and knocked on the door before entering. "Milady," Sei knelt down as soon as she got inside. "Please, rise…" the Queen spoke softly behind the bamboo curtain. "I've found her, the golden fox…" Sei trailed off when Yoko shot her a puzzling look. "But so far, it doesn't seemed like she's showing her form yet," Sei sighed lightly while pinching the middle of her forehead to chase away a looming headache. "May Gaia guide us all…" the Queen said as the other two quietly closed their eyes and prayed for a sign from Gaia.

For centuries, the rulers of Lillian Nation followed the teaching of Gaia as she is the _Mother of All_ and thus the rulers of this country are usually devoted followers of the great deity. While serving under them are the Knights of the Roses that usually following the strict teaching of Gaia's children, examples were that the Red Rose followed the teaching of Inu Fuji, the Yellow Rose followed the teaching of Saito Yuki, and the White Rose followed the teaching of Sohma Miko.

_A/N: so uhh.. this might take a while for next update. my brain been drawing blanks lately, hoorah for writer's block. I sowwy... T_T_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Two people standing against an army of five hundred, the shadows slowly took a form of humans in ragged clothes and rotten flesh. "This is going to be tough," Sachiko said roughly baring her sharp teeth at the enemies. Both had suffered minor flesh wounds, but they can't let that slow them down or they will perish. "If we work together…" Yumi said in between breaths. "We can destroy them…" she was getting tired and suddenly withdrawn her weapons. With one swift movement, Yumi stood in the embrace of the towering wolf as she touched the Tiphon Spear giving it an even deeper blue glow to it.

"Follow my lead, just stay calm and control your breathing." Yumi whispered and Sachiko's ears twitches cutely (even in dire situation). "Under the guiding of Gaia, we will purge all darkness from this land. Grant us the power to protect this country, our Queen and our people. Lend us the strength to cleanse these poor souls, sending them into the waiting arms of eternal peace. Sapphire…" both recited in unison. "...Vortex!!!" Deep blue lights showering down around them like sparks of meteor showers, their enemies burned by the blue flames until they returned into the essence of a soul and flow upward into the heavenly sky above. Five hundred souls surrounded them causing the place to lit up in a bright white light like they're standing above a sphere.

Overexerting her limit, Yumi slumped forward and Sachiko caught her with her left hand… paw… Letting go of her weapon, Sachiko scoop the other girl up in her arms, the weapon returned to its original form and sheath itself on her waist. _Oh rats… _was all that her mind could form as Yumi's form changed from human to a cute little brown pup, and Sachiko found herself shrinking as well. The weapon and amulet disappeared and the same thing happened to Yumi's things as well, though it's a mystery as to where those things disappeared to.

MgM

Mocha eyes fluttered open when something wet hit her nose; the first thing Yumi saw was dark sky and blurry rain before her. Finally she noticed that she have a snout, she quickly sat up and felt dizzy that her head swaying from side-to-side for a minute or two. _Oh great, I went and get myself turned into this for using too much power. _Yumi heaved a sigh as she let her head hung low, but then something hit her as to why it's pouring and she's not wet. Turning her gaze upward, she was greeted with a sight of a large blue wolf sheltering her from the rains that managed to fell through the leaves of the oak tree.

Yumi's teacher had told her that her powers were borrowed from Inu Kentaro, and if she overexert herself or used too much of that borrowed power she will be transformed into a defenseless fox. Yumi had never forgotten that lesson, but now it seemed like she has as she's now just a small brown fox. She once overused her powers and was turned into a fox, and for days she remained in that form until her power replenished completely.

Quietly, she lay back down and drifted off to sleep, and for a long moment everything becomes peaceful and quiet. The rain had lifted and Sachiko had moved away so that she could lay down next to Yumi, pondering if the young hunter was from an aristocrat bloodline or not. From what Sachiko know, only those of royal bloodline or aristocrat bloodline follow the ever elusive Fox Deity: Inu Kentaro, the mighty son of Gaia. Even then, not many come close to obtaining such power from him, let alone the ability to transform into the bestial form that Yumi are in at the moment.

The feeling of something warm and wet brushed against Sachiko's nose woke her up, sapphire eyes focused on the pink tongue darting out licking her face and muzzle in a slow and normal pace. The licking suddenly stopped and Sachiko looked up to see the fox in front of her looked a bit stiffened. She saw the fox's ears flicked back and twitches lightly, _Is she blushing?! _Her mind pondered as the fox looked away to avoid staring at her for some reason, taking the chance Sachiko gave her companion a good lick on the face that got the brown fur to be brushed against its position (now it sticking up instead of being flat). Yumi shivered at Sachiko's action, though she didn't protest to it.

"Umm… thank you for sheltering me…" Yumi stuttered still looking away from Sachiko. "You're from the royal bloodline," Sachiko said as she stood up. "My teacher said he found me in the forest, and that Gaia had granted him his wish for a child." Yumi said softly. Compare to Sachiko, Yumi was half her size and height but in this form they're not at odds with each other, to be honest they're friendlier than before. It's only in need will you see true friendship or in this case, comrade.

MgM

"So he never tells you to call him _father_?" Sachiko asked as they walked side-by-side through the thick forest. "No, but he taught me all that he knows and I'm glad to have him as a mentor and a father figure," Yumi replied as her tail wagged slightly talking about her teacher. "What about you? I'm sure you're not just another peasant turning knight," Yumi said looking over at Sachiko. "Not to mention that your Tiphon Spear isn't the kind of weapon that any person could just wield it easily," she added. "Hmm… you seem to know a lot of my weapon," Sachiko said after a long thoughtful pause. "You don't think my teacher would only teach me how to hunt do you?" Yumi asked once they stopped near the river embankment. It was getting to hot for them to continue onward, so they found a tree near the river and decided to rest there until sunset.

That afternoon, Yumi recounts the tales of her younger days learning to hunt with her teacher. The man who was always there for her and taught her the art of hunting and planning ahead, Sachiko listened intently as she rested her head on her front paws. Then Sachiko in turn talked about her family, her duty as a knight and her love for her country, and her dislike of men along with of her cousin: Kashiwagi Suguru, whom she mildly dislike. The fact was strange to Yumi as to why Sachiko only mildly dislike her cousin, as he too was of the male specie. The reason was that he was the only person in her house that give her a sense of normalcy, after all the Ogasawara name was known throughout the kingdom. Thus, Sachiko was never treated like a normal girl as people around her always treated her with respect or having very high expectation from her.

Sachiko had spent much of her young life learning the art of being the perfect woman, but by the time she reached her teens she was sent to become a knight instead. Though still being trained in the art of being lady-like, her superior forced her to quit it all and moved into the squire quarter permanently for better training purposes. Now Sachiko cast an aura of a strong knight but when in court, she would looked as delicate as any lady in waiting would be and as scholarly as any man serving the Queen.

_A/N: If you go back to chapter 6, I have already give the name of the deities and what they are as in their natural/true form._


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Even in the Capital, the people knew nothing that goes on within the Palace, the betrayal had taken place and many of the Royal Knights were trapped in the chamber room along with the Queen, while many in training were slaughtered mercilessly in their sleep. With an iron fist, Kashiwagi Mitsuru managed to manipulate and control all those that served the Queen to be on his side, while those that he can't manipulate he branded them as traitors and imprisoned them.

Kashiwagi Suguru, the son of Kashiwagi Mitsuru; baring striking resemblance to the man he called _father_, though their personalities were complete opposite. Suguru managed to stay out of the grip by obeying his father, though his intention weren't the same as the power hungry man. Suguru subtly trying to help the Queen escape, but his effort was a waste of time as she refused to flee like a coward.

MgM

"I can see the Palace from here," Sachiko said looking down from the hilltop. It has been many weeks since that incident and they're back to their human form, and now they finally reached the Capital. "It's rotten and dark, so much darkness enveloping this place…" Yumi said after she took a moment to sniff the air like a true hunter (dog?). "We must save the Queen," Sachiko said as her hand tighten on her now almost dagger-like spear (when not extended, it does looked like a dagger). "Even though it's a trap set by the enemies?" Yumi asked without taking her eyes off the Palace from afar. "Yes," Sachiko answered with full determination. "Will you be willing to cut down the people you once called comrades?" Yumi continued, because she wanted Sachiko to be sure of her decision and able to accept the consequences that follow her decision. "Yes," there was no hesitation in her voice.

During the short time they're together, Sachiko come to learn that charging into a battle without a plan isn't a good idea. The young knight also learned that the girl next to her evolved continuously even in the midst of a battle, the girl never ceased to amaze Sachiko. What's more was that the girl saw her nothing more than just another person, someone she trusted with her life and Sachiko felt that same way about the petite hunter. Yumi on the other hand, came to enjoy Sachiko's company even though once in a while, she was tempted to leave the knight behind. She learned a strange quirk about the knight that's for sure, and it was during the time when both were in animal form rather than human form. Though, surely it would be rather strange and embarrassing if Yumi did that while in human form, just not possible, well not unless she wanted the blush to become permanent on her cheeks or Sachiko's cheeks.

"Then let us plan this out," Yumi said as she gave Sachiko's hand a light squeeze for reassurance. Together, they headed back down the hill while remained hidden from the eyes of others as they quietly storm up a plan, Sachiko proved to be an incredible tactician as she drawn the layout of the place on the dirt. After all the planning, both eat from dried rations and perform a ritual, well Yumi performed the ritual to nature seeking its help in defeating the unwelcome darkness that threaten to spill over the Capital and effecting the rest of the nation.

MgM

Shadows leaping silently in the night, traveling at incredible speed towards the Palace, they looked so agile and fast that no one saw them leaping from roof to roof. "Hold," a lithe figure said in a barely audible tone but the other figure stopped. "Take this and go straight to the Queen's chamber, I'll take care of the guards." "Be careful," the other one nodded and took the cloak from the first one. "I'll meet up once things are done here," the first one replied looking up at her companion. "I'll be waiting," the second one said leaning in to steal a quick kiss from the first one and hurriedly leaped off onto the roof of an annex of the Palace itself.

_Blueberry…_ was the only coherent word that formed in Yumi's mind; her lips were still tingling from the kiss. Shaking her head lightly, Yumi pulled out a handful of three inches long needles, with silent steps she threw it in the direction of the guards. As soon as the needles hit them, the guards slumped forward and fell into a deep sleep immediately. With her left hand, Yumi collected two simple leaves from a tree nearby before she opened the gate and walked in; putting it to her lips the young hunter played a soft melody quickly lulling those who hear it into a deep sleep.

But in the shadow, something lurks, flicking its tongue and crawling on the ceiling high above the young hunter. "…" Yumi sniffed the air around her; the scent of death was thick and heavy. Leaning forward for a little momentum, Yumi dashed down the quiet hall with bodies lying on the marbled floor soundly asleep, and the light popping sound could be heard just right behind her echoing, following her like a hunter locking on its prey. Yumi quickly burst through a heavy door and hid herself behind the large canopy bed, controlling her erratic heart to pace itself just as the door was ripped from its hinges. A creature with the body mass of a lion dropped from the ceiling and crawled inside.

The thing looked like a spider with its four long arms and two legs, its head was human with long raven hair, its eyes of almond shape like it was taken from a snake, and the tongue was long and slithering black like coal. The limbs are of human, though long and lanky, it still looked human except for the sharps claws replacing its toes and fingers. On its back were razor sharp metal spikes lining on its spine, and its mouth stretched from ear-to-ear showing multiple rows of sharp white teeth. With a slash of its first right hand, the canopy bed shattered like a mirror and Yumi managed to dive out of the way and rolled to a stop when her back hit the wall. With her daggers drawn, Yumi dodged out of the thing's grasp as she sliced one of its arms up with her daggers, and the screeching noise escaping from its mouth was horrible enough to burst a few eardrums.

The daggers glow in an eerie deep red shade, like a flickering yet fading lights, Yumi leaped up into the air and elegantly slicing the thing up like a chef cutting vegetables. She grunted when something sharp grazed her side, and she could feel that her clothes suddenly sticking to that spot and she knew exactly what happened. Even though she's swift, it was unavoidable when the enemy got arms that's twice as long as your own, Yumi used one of her daggers and pierced the thing's tongue while slicing it offs with her other dagger. The blood that spilled from the tongue burnt holes in the marbled floor, it was thrashing wildly and Yumi hissed as droplets of blood got on her right arm. Lodging both of her daggers onto the thing's back, Yumi made quick work by lifting the thing over her shoulders and tossed it directly out of the only window in the room. Staggering a little bit, the acid blood burnt through her clothes and into her flesh, her side was bleeding, and there were blood running down on her sideburns from her ears, an after effect from the thing's loud shriek.

_Who would've thought that a Blood Flicker actually existed, and whoever creating it must be half dead as well. May Gaia have mercy on his soul, _Yumi looked over her shoulder at the broken window for a long moment before she left the now messy room. Dashing down the corridor, sniffing the air, catching onto the scent of the one person she's searching for and headed to the east wing of the Palace. But along the hall, growling beasts emerged from the shadows, dripping red hounds snarling and baring their fangs at Yumi. "Blood-Hounds…" were the only words that escape from Yumi's pale lips.

_A/N: *A young fox is called a kit, cub or pup. Kit is the singular form. Pup is common in North American English. (From Wiki Answer) So I don't see the need to change it. :)_


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Blood-Hounds (unlike the nice doggies we all know) are a replica of the Hell-Hounds since they bare many resemblances to the original beasts. But unlike the Hell-Hounds, who are always dripping in hot molten lava, the Blood-Hounds are always seen dripping in fresh beautiful crimson blood. The Hell-Hounds stood twice as large as a werewolf, while the Blood-Hounds are only two times larger than the average wolf. These creatures looked like monsters without skin to cover up its flesh and blood continuously seeping through those muscles (it's a wonder they don't die from it).

Growling, Yumi felt her body tensed up and something inside of her is slowly changing, like an old rusted wheel suddenly started to move again after being inactive for a long time. "From the depth of Hell, from the molten lava of the Core, grant me the power to vanquish my enemies!" Yumi recited as her right hand emit a fiery glow and she quickly brought it up and pushed it against her chest. Bright lights shone from her mouth and eyes, like they're hallowed, and her skin begun to crack and the lines burn in the color of burning lava. Like lightning, Yumi dashed through the Blood-Hounds leaving trail of molten lava behind her as her enemies shriek and yelp in agony as their flesh burned to charcoal while their bones burned to ashes. The smell of burnt meats hung on the air, Yumi exhaled letting the heat escaped from her mouth.

MgM

"She's coming," Sachiko said as she fought the hordes of undead that appeared out of nowhere and broke into the Queen's chamber (of course she broke through the window). "Who's coming?" Shimako asked as she and her subordinate kept the Queen safe while the other three fight. "Heh, you two sure are close in just two short months of being together." Sei teased the young knight. "That's none of your business," Sachiko snapped as she swung her spear taking out a dozen of undead.

Sei was already in her animal form, a beautiful tiger though she still maintained much of her human traits that her clothes are still intact. Next to her was Yuko, the black wolf looking sharp and fearsome. Sachiko was standing there in her midnight mane and clothes torn from her enormous form, looking like a true dreadnought with her powerful spear in hands.

A strange flash of light quickly destroyed all the undead surrounding the Queen's chamber, the sight of a petite young woman emerged from the broken doors with blood-stained clothes and face. "Yumi-chan!" Sei called out but stopped in her track when she saw the blood dripping down from Yumi's ears. "They're coming…" she said calmly as a golden scythe materialized in her hand (right hand). Then a golden light enveloped her entire being; slowly transforming her into a golden half-fox (stand on two feet, about half-human) and her fluffy golden tail started swishing from side-to-side. Her big ears twitched quite a bit as her grip on the scythe tighten some; while Sachiko growled and sniffed the air thicken with death and darkness.

"In the name of Gaia, invested in me the power of the mighty goddess, heed unto my words and surrender or ye shall perish like those that came before ye." Yumi said as her tail split into two. She brought her scythe up high and brought it down until the tip of the scythe touched the floor, everyone could see a rippling effect like the ground was merely a pond of water (but it's not). The ground beneath glowed brightly as Yumi took the lead, the rest followed and the guards are still soundly asleep (even with the bright light and noises).

By following behind Yumi, everyone got a glimpse of something magnificent as the threat of fate that bind her power to her frail body was slowly unraveling itself as the little fox become a powerful fox. Simply, Yumi was of divine origin as Inu Kentaro is Gaia's messenger and rule of the canine species though many other species feared his power as well. Inu Kentaro's form was of a golden fox, and no mere mortal were ever granted such divine form unless one has divine blood flow through one's body.

MgM

"Dogs…" a voice said: the voice was from the unison of three individual merged into one. "Filthy dogs…" it echoed down the hall leading to the throne room. Sitting on the throne was no one else but Kashiwagi Mitsuru, and standing next to him were skeletons dressed in black robe and chains wrapped around it. Binding it to the arrogant King, but floating above Mitsuru was an apparition of a half-woman and half-skeleton wrapping her skeletal hand over his shoulder in an intimate way.

"Binding the guardians of death unto yourself to do your bidding, how very clever of you..." Yumi said as she let go of the scythe just as demons and many undead emerged from the shadows and the ground under them. "This Kingdom…" the woman hissed though the voice was that of Mitsuru. "Should belong to meeee…" she finished as shrilling laughter echoed the room. Behind the throne, bleach-white skeletons with weapons and shields appeared laughing along with its master; it was enough to make even the strongest person's skin crawl. "Foolish necromancer, your search for immortality has led you into the path of no return." Yumi spoke in a voice light as feather but strong as Kentaro himself.

Meanwhile, the scythe turned into a small golden fox (small, but not a pup) leaping down in front of the Queen and her noble Knights of the White Roses. _Toudo and Norijo, lend me your strength and power to protect the Queen. Satou and Mizuno, protect us and let those two do what they must, the fate of this nation rest upon their shoulders._ The small fox spoke in a masculine voice echoing in their heads, and all got into their position as they dare not to question the shimmering golden fox, no matter how tiny and cute it may seemed to be, it is of a divine creature (it talked to them telepathically). The cranes spread their wings over their heads, forming a circle like they're doing a mating dance. The tiger grew twice her normal size, extending her sharp claws and scratched the ground to sharpen it. The wolf, beautiful black mane grown twice as her normal size, baring her canine teeth letting two incredibly sharp fangs protrude from her upper jaw until it's a near seven inches long (like a saber tooth).

For every single enemy they killed, three more appeared to took its place, the battle was endless as more and more disturbing creatures emerged from the depth of the abyss answering the call of the guardians of death. Without her weapons, Yumi was left with no other choice but to follow her instinct and changed herself into a massive nine-tail (twice the size of a normal wolf) golden fox with a crescent-moon on her forehead. She was breathing flame, her paws are on fire and her eyes looked like the shape of the crescent moon (almost un-seeable).

_A/N: In chapter 13 (I belief) that they shared many of their past together on that afternoon (when they both walking on all four paws). As for the kiss, if you consider being licked on the muzzle as first kiss, then it's not their first kiss ;) It's more like Sachiko steal a kiss and run off fearing Yumi might slap her (who knows, she might get slap if she stayed)._


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"I leave the guardians to you," Yumi said to Sachiko. Without further explanation, Sachiko leaped into the air and aimed her spear at the left guardian, but for a skeleton the thing reacted quickly and drawn a blood-dripping scythe out of nowhere and blocked her attack. The world around them as they know vanished, in the infinite of empty space there were only six of them there (including the not so alive Mitsuru). Then a tiny drop of water, creating a ripple within the empty space, but it wasn't a drop of water it was a drop of blood. Crimson red color stained her beautiful blue mane, especially her sapphire eye, the right one slowly losing its sight as blood continued to flow down over it from the unmanageable cut on her forehead.

"Cover your ears," Yumi spoke directly into Sachiko's mind, and thus Sachiko flattened her ears immediately. The golden fox opened her mouth, invisible waves of hyper sonic sound emitted from her mouth, shattering the chains the bound the guardians to Mitsuru and sent the guardians running away like scared puppies (just imagine chibi-grim reapers running away). But Sachiko isn't one that would let things slide, so she went into full-mode and snagged one of the guardians with her powerful paw while crushing the other one with her jaws, breaking bones as she chewed on it while listening to the sweet sound of someone screaming in agony and begging for mercy.

"Insolence dogs!!!!" the woman behind Mitsuru hissed. Snakes, millions of snakes were flying out of nowhere, hissing and ready to strike its enemy. Taking in a deep breathe, Yumi exhaled and flame escaped her mouth and burnt all the snakes to ashes a few feet away before they even got a chance to get near her. "Unbind yourself from him," she demanded of the necromancer. "Hisss… soul isss mine…" she hissed almost in a lizard-like manner. "How dare you eat his soul," Yumi growled as the flame licking her paws flickered like a fury. Golden aura glowed about her, with a quick dash Yumi attacked her opponent and the necromancer was unable to blocks or dodges the attacks as it seemed like there are multiple version of the strong golden fox.

Shrieking in overwhelming rage, the necromancer summoned a creature so large and vile that one would've thought it made out of nothing but rotten flesh. With one swoop from the monstrous thing, Yumi was sent flying as she let out a yelp of pain from the impact. Sachiko dashed over trying to catch Yumi, but the thing took notice of her attempt and took a swipe at her too. Coughing up blood as she hits the wall, Sachiko knew immediately that something inside of her just snapped or maybe cracked. Barely standing, her vision was pretty hazy from the blood and the pain that surged throughout her entire body. But what Sachiko saw next made her thought that she had died and left her body, Yumi recovered from her fall snarling, showing her teeth as the muscles in her body slowly increased its masses while black marks of what looked like flames appeared all over her golden body except for her tails. The marks glowed brightly, as red hot lava seeped through it and covered up Yumi's body, an image that Sachiko recognized immediately: Hell-Hound.

"What?! Impossible!!!" the necromancer shrieked in terror and disbelief at the sight before her. "Not even… Kentaro… himself could perform such a feat…" she hissed. "Kill her!!!" Upon her command, the Slave (the monstrous thing that she summoned) let out an ear piercing shriek and lunged at Yumi. Yumi had grown as large as Sachiko, but she now looked like she'd just been dipped in red hot lava. She opened her mouth and searing flame shot out, burning the rotten flesh to nothing. Her tails fanned out and shot straight at the Slave, piercing it easily as lava dripped from her tails onto it charcoaling it within a few nanoseconds. The battled ended when the Slave turned to ash, Yumi crushed the necromancer with her lava paw, killing her with the searing heat and with that Mitsuru turned to dust.

She opened her mouth again, this time only the sweet sound of a lullaby emitting erasing all darkness that have gathered there. Everything turned back to normal again, the dark space vanished and the sight of the other knights looking all battered up came into view. Everyone turned back to normal, everyone but Yumi that is. She walked up to the tiny golden fox, and bowed down before it.

"Father, it has been a while," she said without looking up at him. "My child, you have matured well in both your power and your soul. Now I know I can leave the fate of Lillian in your hands," the fox replied. "I rather not," Yumi said finally looking up at the small fox, and shock was evident in his eyes. "I was raised in the wild, and I would very much like to return to the wild." Yumi said walking up toward Shimako, who stood along with her companion by the queen. "She, father is more than capable of handling things and with the others by her side, I have no doubt that this nation will continues to prosper." Yumi said sitting down in front of Shimako but beside the queen. "And I, as your father shall respect your wishes," the fox finally relent his decision and transformed into a handsome young man with light brown hair and beard. "But when you're ready my daughter, Gaia will welcome you with open arms." Inu Kentaro said with a bright smile on his face as he reached out and pat Yumi on the head as the lava didn't even bother him.

Even the queen knelt down at the true form of the god, but no one knew how a god like Inu Kentaro managed to have a child, and with whom either. "Sandra, my first mortal student, but her hunger for power led her astray from her path. She stole a book, a sacred book of the dark arts, by learning it the power of darkness will then eaten up half of her. Enraged at the result, as she is still no match for my other student, Ken," "My teacher," Yumi murmured and Kentaro nodded. "You were born from a mortal, but your power was that of a god and so Gaia sealed much of it away. The mortal part of you, are impure and thus caused many ill-effect upon your body. But now my child, you are strong and divined." Kentaro explained briefly. "Be well my daughter," he bid her farewell and vanished as he has many other duties to tend to.

In the end, Yumi give up her rightful place after unlocking her full potential, her mind opened up and she knew everything that was going on. But growing up as a hunter, Yumi have no interest in ruling a nation because she had come to enjoy travelling too much to be stuck in some fancy palace. Even at the Queen's request for her to stay a little longer, Yumi declined after she healed the Queen with her strange herbs from her small but bottomless pouch.

"My Queen," Sachiko said as she got down on one knee. "Sachiko, you are now relief from your duty as a knight," the Queen spoke softly and Sachiko was shocked. "It's not that you are not doing your job my dare knight," the Queen quickly continued to appease the confusion written on the young knight's face. "I am relieving of your duty as my knight, but I say nothing about relieving you from your duty of protecting young Yumi." There was a flash of happiness in Sachiko's sapphire's eyes and it quickly mellowed down. "Go to her, she is waiting for you," Yoko said and Sei nodded her head. For once, the blonde woman didn't tease of pick on Sachiko, because for the last couple of months she watched Sachiko stopped talking and looking very much like a love-sick puppy.

MgM

"What should we have for dinner?" Yumi said thoughtfully. They were at the riverbank fishing; Yumi was her usual self, mellow and relax while Sachiko, well, she's mellowed and happy. "Fried fishes sound delicious," Sachiko said after a long moment of silence. "That is if we catch anything," Yumi said giving Sachiko a side-long glance. "If you kiss me, I might get lucky." Sachiko said innocently with a devious intention and Yumi's face turned beet red.

It had been three years since the first time they met; Sachiko learned that without Yumi her live is incomplete. The scar on her forehead from the last battle finally faded away, Yumi's natural herbs remedies stuff left practically no physical scar. She also learned that Yumi gets embarrassed easily (only because it's Sachiko) though Sachiko can't deny that Yumi could unintentionally made Sachiko blushed from the tip of her hair down to her toes without even knowing it. They had settled down near the river and away from people, living a more quiet and peaceful life. Yumi, who have no problem saying how much she had fallen in love with Sachiko, while Sachiko on the other hand, still haven't been able to confess her feelings for Yumi. Though she's working hard on it, and maybe someday Sachiko would be courageous enough to say it in the open and not at night (behind closed door).

End

_A/N: That's all folks, supposed to put this on yesterday, but doesn't want to up it for some reason (an no, my file isn't corrupted). Thanks for sticking with me (or the story). _ I shall now take a break, my brain sizzled finishing this. Haha... but now I can go back and finish my unfinished stories, then I will start working on something else, maybe a darker piece for the MgM cast maybe not. Again, thanks for reading._


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